This paper introduces the study of the effects of public capital on the economy and briefly discusses the papers included in this symposium. Each paper presents new results on the effects of public capital on the economy. Different data sets are used, a variety of estimation strategies are employed, and several countries are studied including the US, Japan, the Netherlands, and a collection of OECD countries. in general, the papers included in this volume provide support for the result that public capital does have a positive effect on output and on economic growth, and can lower cost in certain industries such as agriculture. However, the magnitude of the effects may not be as large as the early estimates tended to indicate in every case.
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